


A Daily Dose of Love

by ladyblogger



Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Merthur - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 23:53:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyblogger/pseuds/ladyblogger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Coffee Shop AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Daily Dose of Love

“Medium caramel latte to go” the blonde man in the neat suit demanded. He was still on his phone, hadn’t even bothered to move it from his ear. Merlin nodded and rolled his eyes when he turned his back to start the order. Pricks like this were always in and out of his shop. It was a great location for business because of the high rise office buildings all around, but the cliental weren’t exactly what he and his best friend Gwen had in mind. They had opened this shop about a year ago and still had yet to establish any proper regulars. They were always busy, but with guys in suits who had no time to chat.

“Here you go Sir, have a nice day” he said, putting on his professional face, hiding his sarcasm. The blonde man grabbed the cup and stormed off, still talking aggressively on his phone.

“What a dick” Gwen said, as she swept the floor behind Merlin’s feet.

“Cute though” Merlin joked, he loved the way strong men looked in well-tailored suits, but the asshats who normally wore them definitely weren’t his type.   

The next day, the same blonde guy in a different suit came in, this time he wasn’t on his phone. “Medium caramel latte to go please”

“Name for the cup” Merlin asked, writing down the details.

“Arthur” the man smiled.

Every day for the next week the blonde guy named Arthur came into Merlin’s shop and ordered a medium caramel latte.

The next Monday, Merlin put the coffee in Arthur’s hand before a word escaped his lips. “I’d say that was a little creepy if it wasn’t so convenient” Arthur said before dropping some money on the counter and walking briskly out of the store. Merlin stood there, shocked in place for a moment. “What kind of response was that?” he thought to himself. He shook it off and continued with his day.

On Tuesday he had a coffee ready again. “You’re really starting to come in handy” was Arthur’s response this time, this time Merlin was ready for Arthur’s rudeness, “Ya I have my uses” he smiled slyly at him. Arthur had a slightly surprised look on his face with his hand half way to his cup, but he recovered quickly with a chuckle and wandered out of the shop.

This pattern repeated itself for another two weeks. Each time Arthur lingered a little longer, and the banter lasted a little longer until one day Arthur stood around for almost 25 minutes before noticing the clock on the wall and after a select few curse words sprinted out of the joint. When this happened Gwen laughed and said “Did you ever think our first regular would be a stiff in a suit?” Merlin chuckled, the thought had never even occurred to him.

Arthur came in every day for 2 months straight, and then one day he never showed. Merlin kept his latte sitting on the edge of the counter until noon, when he made a replacement. That replacement stayed on the counter until Gwen closed up at the end of the night. Merlin couldn’t explain it, but he was hurt horribly by the no show.

The next day Arthur was back, but his latte wasn’t in its normal spot. “Merlin, dude, you’re losing it a bit aren’t ya?” He joked.

“Well I wasn’t sure if you were showing up today and I didn’t want to waste anymore cups” Merlin said coolly. He couldn’t even explain to himself while he was being so hostile about this.

Arthur didn’t seem to notice the hostility, he smirked and said “Ya, I had an early thing, but I could use a coffee now”.

Merlin couldn’t keep from smiling as he made the damn coffee.

Over the next 3 months, Arthur never missed a day again.

One rainy Saturday a dishevelled Arthur came into the shop around 3:00. Merlin raised his eyebrow at him, “Working on a weekend now?” he asked puzzled as he started working on his friend’s coffee.

“Ya, but I cannot spend one more minute in my little office so I thought I would set up here a while” Arthur said, running his fingers through his damp hair.

Merlin caught himself watching Arthur’s fingers as they reached the back of his head, his bicep flexing, his shirt almost see through from the rain. Merlin gave his head a little shake and handed over the coffee. Since Arthur became their first and only regular, Merlin had spent more time than he would care to admit thinking about him, wondering about his past, his story. Sure he was an arrogant jerk most of the time, but Merlin knew there was more to him than that. He had caught glimpses of Arthur’s kindness through his front window whenever a homeless man was on the corner. Without fail, Arthur stopped for every person on that corner. Merlin could tell Arthur was a spoiled child with a huge heart. Combined with the good looks, he was a hard person to ignore.

“Hey Merlin, join me for a coffee,” Arthur shouted out to Merlin a couple hours after he first arrived. The shop was empty and Gwen gave Merlin an encouraging nod so Merlin complied. He grabbed himself and Arthur some fresh coffee and slid into the chair across from the only other person in the place.

“What are you working on?” Merlin asked, he didn’t know exactly what Arthur did, but he knew it ws some kind of management position.

“Well I was working on itineraries for the week, but I quit about 15 minutes ago and now I’m looking at motivational cat posters” Arthur snickered. His laugh was infectious and Merlin smiled back.

“Sounds incredibly productive” Merlin laughed into his cup. He didn’t want to stare at Arthur, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to resist. When he looked up, he saw that Arthur was staring at him, his stormy blue eyes seemed to be piercing right through Merlin. His breath hitched slightly and he hoped it wasn’t obvious. After a moment Arthur grabbed his chair and pulled up beside Merlin, turning his laptop around, showing Merlin the adorable kittens Arthur had been wasting time looking at.

An hour later the computer sat forgotten on the edge of the table, and Merlin had learned more about Arthur than he ever thought he’d be lucky enough to know. He had been right; behind Arthur’s arrogance was true and genuine goodness. Arthur’s hand was on the back of Merlin’s chair and they were both leaning in, completely absorbed in what the other was saying.

Merlin finished telling the story of the time his Uncle Gaius accidental got high on painkillers after he had knee surgery and he and Arthur were in fits of laughter. Merlin was wiping tears from his eyes when Arthur put the hand not on Merlin’s chair on the side of Merlin’s face, Arthur’s thumb gently stroking Merlin’s prominent cheekbone. Merlin froze, his heart pounding, as Arthur leaned in slowly, gently pressing his lips against Merlin’s. It was soft and much too short. Merlin’s eyes were still closed when Arthur pulled away, “Can I buy you dinner tomorrow?” Merlin blurted out.

“I think that could be arranged” Arthur said, pressing his lips back to Merlin’s. 

**Author's Note:**

> A story wrote for my best friend Emily


End file.
